Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that both wages of construction workers and prices of construction materials registered quarter-to-quarter decline in the fourth quarter of 2008.
The average daily wage of construction workers was MOP526 in the fourth quarter of 2008, down by 3.0% quarter-to-quarter. The average daily wage of skilled & semi-skilled workers dropped by 1.4% to MOP549, of which structural iron erectors (MOP713), plant operators (MOP673) and concrete formwork carpenters (MOP652) were earning higher average wages.
After discounting the effect of inflation, the wage index of construction workers for the fourth quarter of 2008 was 95.8 in real terms, up slightly by 0.4% quarter-to-quarter, with that of skilled & semi-skilled workers increasing by 0.2% to 95.6 and that of unskilled workers going up by 2.4% to 97.7. For the whole year of 2008, the average wage index of construction workers declined by 8.0% year-on-year to 99.6 in real terms.
Following a significant drop in the prices of raw materials in the international market, prices of most construction materials of Macao, especially metal, registered decrease. In the fourth quarter of 2008, the average price of spiral and round reinforcing steel bars fell notably by 20.3% quarter-to-quarter to MOP6,094 per tonne, and that of concrete declined by 4.7% to MOP319 per cubic metre; however, the average price of ordinary clear sheet glass registered an increase of 2.2%, at MOP83 per square metre.
In the fourth quarter of 2008, the price index of construction materials for residential buildings (139.6) dropped by 11.3% quarter-to-quarter after rising for six consecutive quarters. Compared with the same quarter of 2007, the price index registered an increase of 8.3%, owing to a 17.6% and 25.5% surge in the price indices of steel and concrete pipe piles; besides, the price indices of timber and concrete went up by 7.7% and 3.8% respectively year-on-year.
In 2008, the average price index of construction materials for residential buildings rose by 22.6% year-on-year to 148.0.
